ICA to open dark store

ICA Sweden will begin offering a central solution for picking and fulfilling e-commerce orders by the third quarter of 2018 at the latest. Central order picking will improve delivery times for customers who want home delivery, and the warehouse will be able to serve a large part of the Mälardalen area once fully staffed. ICA will begin central picking from existing premises in Johanneshov, Stockholm.

E-commerce is beginning to account for a significant share of sales for many ICA stores, and many of these do not have the capacity to fulfil e-commerce orders from their stores. To increase efficiency and improve service, by the third quarter of 2018 at the latest ICA retailers will offer an extra service entailing picking and delivery from a central e-commerce warehouse (or “dark store”). The warehouse will be open seven days a week and offer approximately 12,000 grocery items as well as a number of other household and leisure items. Deliveries will be made by ICA’s own fleet with a two-hour delivery window seven days a week between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

“E-commerce is now so large in Stockholm that the time is ripe to offer stores central picking and delivery,” comments Anders Svensson, CEO of ICA Sweden. “We know that many stores feel they do not have space or time to handle picking in stores, and with this solution we can also provide an improved customer offering with generous delivery times that we know are sought after by many customers in Stockholm.”

It is up to each store to determine whether they want to use ICA’s central e-commerce solution, since the ICA stores are all owned and operated by independent retailers.

Facts about ICA’s e-commerce

• ICA’s online sales grew by a total of 50% in 2017 compared with 2016, to more than SEK 1.2 billion.

• At year-end 2017 more than 200 stores were online in ICA’s e-commerce operation, and more than 570 stores offered ICA’s Matkasse meal kit service.

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